Cupid shares leap as love-in with dating sites continues

SHARES in online dating operator Cupid soared by more than a quarter yesterday on news that international expansion is moving ahead of expectations.

In a trading update, the Edinburgh-based firm said it had bought the French domain name cupidon.com for 175,000 and was driving revenues in the French dating market "well beyond those previously forecast for 2011".

Cupid, which recently raised 5 million on the stock market to fund its expansion plans, added that it continued to seek European acquisition targets.

Chief executive and co-founder Bill Dobbie said: "Our growing revenues are a reflection of our continued geographical growth and increased uptake of our mobile applications.

"Underlying this is the increasing global acceptance and credibility of the online dating industry, which is leading to further demand for the services we offer."

The firm said more than 50 per cent its revenues now come from outside the UK, while it upgraded forecasts for 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Peel Hunt analyst Paul Morland forecast the firm could generate 50m in sales this year. He said: "The key to this success continues to be a class-leading software platform, combined with highly-effective online advertising in a growth market."

Shares rose 34p to 162.5p.